Bell Traverse Circuit

The Bell Traverse, situated in the Central Drakensberg, is easily one of the top 5 hikes and is quite unique to other hiking trails in the Drakensberg. This is because Cathedral Peak is home to many of Drakensbergs free-standing basalt towers which include Cathedral Peak,

The Bell, The Inner and Outer Horns, The Mitre and The Chessmen. All of these peak are part of the Bell Traverse. We spend day 1 hiking up to the escarpment top via Organ Pipes Pass. Our home for this night is in what I believe to be the most scenic cave in the Drakensberg, Roland’s Cave. Day 2 sees us hiking along the escarpment edge to Twins Cave where we will spend the next night.

The third day takes us along the Bell Traverse, amongst some giant basalt pinnacles. We have the option to summit cathedral peak today. Our home for the night will be at the base of the peak. The final day sees us descending to the hotel. We should be down by 12pm.

We rate this hike as moderate in difficulty however there are some exposed sections along the route so a head for heights is a must. Our meeting point for this hike is located at Cathedral Peak Hotel at 9:30am. We aim to start hiking by 10:30am. The hike covers just under 50km over the 4 day period with around 2000m of elevation gain in total. The cost for the hike is R4,600 per person and includes: